Aiming to Krush the market with support

Polar Krush's Gary Gleeson and Oxford Innovation's Gill Hall.

A frozen drinks company is hoping to ‘krush’ its opposition thanks to fresh business advice.

Ashington-based Polar Krush Group, which makes Polar Krush frozen soft drinks and the Green Juice Company range of pure fruit juices, has set a target of increasing turnover this year by nearly 50 per cent.

The company is the fastest growing crushed-ice drink brand in the world, with distributors in Span, Portugal, Canary Islands, the Belearics, New Zealand and Australia.

New products being developed include a range of premium frozen fruit juice drinks, shakes, and frozen 100 per cent fresh fruit-based cocktails.

To help Polar Krush maintain its place in the market, sales director Gary Gleeson sought help from the Business Northumberland High Growth Programme, delivered by Oxford Innovation.

Gary said: “We recognised that we are not as effective as we could be at increasing brand awareness, maximising the sales potential of our products and capitalising on new opportunities.”

Oxford Innovation’s business coach Gill Hall had an initial meeting with Gary and managing director Paul Goldfinch before spending two-days working with staff.

She said: “The company has a fantastic entrepreneurial spirit and a strong commercial insight.

“My task was to work closely with the senior team, helping them to align the business more closely with its target markets, categorise what sets them apart from the competition in order to raise brand awareness and increase their market share.”

Polar Krush, which had a turnover of £1.6m in 2013 and is on target to make £2m in 2014, employs 18 full time staff, two apprentices and recruits up to 30 additional seasonal staff.

Paul said: “The coaching provided by Oxford Innovation reaffirmed the need for clarity on business direction.”

He added: “With Gill’s input, we’ve removed the barriers impacting core functions and focused on two key objectives, maximise current customer sales and attract new ones which fit a specific profile, to ensure the maximum return on our investment.

“It sounds simple, but Gill has given us the confidence as a supplier to be more discerning when it comes to chasing the right profile of client.

“She also helped us to plan and prioritise more effectively so that we don’t spend time on things that won’t directly benefit the business.”

For more on the Business Northumberland High Growth Programme contact (01670) 528403, email northumberland@oxin.co.uk or visit www.businessnorthumberland.co.uk